Trade in services with the rest of the world grows faster than intra-EU trade in services.

Omissions

• No explicit year-on-year growth rate comparison between intra-EU and extra-EU services trade was found in the available sources. The conclusion is based on the shift in trade shares rather than direct growth rate data.
• The available data covers 2024. More recent data (2025 or early 2026) may show a different trend. The MEP made the claim in May 2026; if 2025 data exists and reverses the trend, the claim could be outdated.
• The Eurostat data refers to international services transactions as a whole, not broken down by specific service categories, which may show divergent trends.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat Statistics Explained – International trade in servicesFor 2024, the EU average shows that 49.4% of all international services transactions took place within the EU, and 50.6% were with non-member countries.
• PrimaryEurostat – International trade in services – an overview (PDF via Sipotra)EU exports to non-EU countries rose on average by 6.8% per year during the observed period, while the average growth rate for imports was slightly higher, at 7.0%.